THE ARCTIC OE LABRADOE CUREENT. 43B 



" From the foregoing it seems to me to be demonstrated that the current 

 from the Ocean around Spitzbergen, which carries such considerable mass'^s 

 of ice, after it has passed along the East coast of Greenland, turns "West- 

 ward and Northward round Cape Farewell, without detaching any branch 

 to the South- Westward directly towards the Banks of Newfoundland. * 



" This current afterwards runs Northward along the S.W. coast of 

 Greenland until about lat. 64° N., and at times even up to Holsteinborg, 

 which is in about 67° N."f — Admiral Irminger. 



(430.) This current, then, after drifting over the Northern Atlantic 

 Ocean, passes up the Eastern shore of Davis Strait to and beyond the 

 entrance of Baffin's Bay, between Cape Walsingham and Holsteinborg. 

 It here encounters the Southern set which passes down Baffin's Bay, 

 especially on its Western side, transporting those immense icebergs which 

 are annually launched from the glaciers of West Greenland and other 

 parts, as described by Dr. Eink. This current, which enters Baffin's Bay, 

 especially by Lancaster Sound, is the grand outlet of the waters which 

 runs from West to East through the Labyrinthine Archipelago, once the 

 scene of the exciting search for the expedition of Sir John Franklin, and 

 is unquestionably the continuation of that drift past Spitzbergen, described 

 previously (419.) J 



* Graah says in his Narrative (page 23, English translation) : — " In the mouth of 

 Davis Strait I found the temperature of the surface of the Ocean from 4° to 3-1° R. 

 (41° to 39° Fahrenheit), though vsre v^ere in the proximity of the ice. From this I con- 

 cluded that a current from the South predominated here, because I never before in the 

 vicinity of ice had found the temperature of the water exceeding 1-8° R. (36° F.), and this 

 conclusion was confirmed when, coming to the Northward of the ice, I found the tem- 

 perature of the water 1-1 R. (34-5° F.)." 



t Besides the evidence afforded by the Ice-drifts and the Temperature of the water, 

 as cited by the author, conclusive proof of a Northerly set is found in the drift-wood 

 which has been so frequently met with around Cape Farewell and off the West coast of 

 Greenland. A few examples will suffice. A plank of mahogany was drifted to Disco, 

 and formed into a table for the Danish governor at Holsteinborg (" Quarterly Review," 

 No. xxxvi). (But Admiral Sir Edward Belcher thought that this plank is not mahogany, 

 but black-birch, and therefore a Siberian product. If it had made such a lengthened 

 voyage as that from the Gulf of Mexico, it would have become worm-eaten.) Admiral 

 Lowenorn picked up a worm-eaten mahogany log off the S.E. coast of Greenland. Captain 

 Sir Edward Parry, in his second voyage, September 24th, 1823, picked up a piece of 

 yellow pine quite sound, in lat. 60° 30', long. 61° 30' W., and on his third voyage seven 

 pieces of drift-wood were found in the vicinity of Cape Farewell. Again, Captain Sir 

 John Ross found much drift-wood around Cape FareweU, and Captain Sir George Back 

 saw in lat. 56° 50', long. 36° 30', a tree with the roots and bark on. These instances 

 might be multiplied ; but, as before stated, it is very probable that the drift-wood comes 

 from the Northern coast of Asia. — Ed. 



X So confident is Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the famous Danish Arctic Explorer, in the 

 origin of this current, as here described, that he has fearlessly undertaken, in the 

 specially constructed vessel named the Frani, to enter the ice with this current some- 

 where near the New Siberian Islands, and then drift with it. It is devoutly to be hoped 

 that this venturesome scheme, commenced in the summer of 1893, may turn out suc- 

 cessful. The vessel carries a crew of twelve men, with supplies and equipments for five 

 or six years. For a full account of this expedition, the reader is referred to a paper by 

 Dr. Nansen, in the " Geographical Journal," January, 1893, pages 1 — 32, entitled 

 " How can the North Polar Region be Crossed ?' 



N. A. 0. 66 



